


Long Nights and Many Dreams

by Katharos



Category: Saiunkoku Monogatari
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-12-18
Updated: 2009-12-18
Packaged: 2017-10-04 13:58:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,635
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30976
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Katharos/pseuds/Katharos
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Shuurei and Seiran conspire to create a moment for Ryuuki</p>
            </blockquote>





	Long Nights and Many Dreams

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Aishuu, for the first Saiunkoku ficathon.

The longer the night lasts, the more our dreams will be.  
\- Chinese Proverb

 

One a fine day in late summer the Imperial Barge came gliding smoothly along the the wide and straight trading canal: every line sharp, its new paint bright and fresh, it trailed a host of lesser vessels laden with supplies. The peasants working in the fields on either side of the canal paused to watch as it slid by; fathers and mothers lifted their children to their shoulder so that they might watch the Emperor pass by. Afterwards they bounced their sons and daughters in their arms, pinched plump cheeks and sturdy limbs until the owners giggled and squirmed to be let down, and gave thanks to the Eight Celestial immortals for an Emperor who had made such things possible.

As the long rows of pale oars dipped and rose again, breaking the still surface of the canal, the water that sluiced from their wide blades gleamed in the bright sun, rivalling the finery of the officials that thronged the long deck of the Imperial Barge. Two such figures leant against the railing; one might have thought they were watching the sun upon the water but the female figure was counting her fingers, a frown puckering her small brow, and the male was watching her with a look of affection and a little wariness.

"Silk for the Emperor's canopy, the cedar wood, not to mention the labour costs…Seiran, they could have restored another fifty miles of canal in their province for the amount they spent on this barge!" Shuurei huffed, finally allowing her fingers to rest and laying her hands against the carven railing; she tried not to note what the expense of the purple paint must have been.

"The Sai clan still feels the need to ingratiate itself with the Emperor my lady,' Seiran responded quietly and Shuurei glanced up with a quick smile for her friend, feeling his typically serene voice already working to unwind the tense indignant knot her shoulders had become.

"They would have done better with a contribution to public works; even after all this time there's still scars left over from the wars, and its well known Ryuuki has thrown his support behind the restoration efforts."

"Perhaps. But this lavishness is also a signal that the country is recovering." Shuurei followed Seiran's nod towards the small clusters of older officials, holding themselves aloofly superior to the more relaxed current generation. Said generation was taken full advantage of the restorative affect of the cool water breezes after the stultifying heat of the palace. "Some of them can remember the displays of Emperor Senka's reign. All this is reasurring to them."

Shuurei made a slightly wry face. "I suppose you can't expect all officials to be practical." A sudden thought made her laugh. "Although I suppose this outing does have a practical purpose as well." She glanced up, smiling. "Remember when half the court collapsed from heat exhaustion? I disguised myself as a boy and sneaked into the Palace to help out. Perhaps this trip will help prevent that from happening again."

"Perhaps, my lady," Seiran murmured, but his eyes weren't on her; they were looking past her, over the top of her head. "But not if General Sou succeeds in his attempts to start a wrestling match."

Shuurei turned quickly to see, and had to raise a hand to her mouth to stifle an un-Official like giggle at the expressions of horror on the faces of those General Sou was attempting to bully into a match. "I'm not sure that this barge is sturdy enough for that," she murmured quietly, and heard Seiran make a pained, agreeing noise beside her. Struck by a sudden thought she glanced up at him mischievously. "Why don't you try your luck Seiran?"

Seiran gave her a pained look. "If that's what my lady commands."

Shuurei considered for a moment. "No," she decided. "You might damage your fine armour, and then we'd have to replace it. With the east wing roof leaking again!"

"Again?" Seiran said in dismay. "I thought I mended it last time we were home."

Shuurei made an exasperated gesture. "There are birds using it for nesting again and Father just won't chase them away."

They shared a sigh. Then Seiran looked up, focusing on something else beyond her. "Those are not the only benefits of this voyage, my lady."

Shuurei followed his gaze to the familiar sight of Liwei, one of the very first members of the institute. The little man was fussing around the mechanism that had allowed the complement of rowers needed by the barge to be reduced almost ten fold; the bright feather Ryuuren had solemnly to him upon the completion of his project bobbed incongruously behind his ear. A small group of officials from the Ministry of Transport were gathered around him, peering interestedly over his shoulder.

Shuurei had to struggle to keep the huge, beaming grin that threatened to something more moderate and more befitting the dignity of her rank. There was nothing to stop the up swelling of pride and pleasure she felt at the sight though, even if she had little to do with it really; Liwei's success was the result of his own hard work and talent.

Was this what Father had felt, when she had embarked upon her fist assignment as an Official? "He won't lack for sponsors for his next project after this" she said allowed.

"No," Seiran agreed. "The success of the Emperor's barge will ensure that."

"The Emperor's…" Shuurei found her eyes, moving past the bust excited group to where Ryuuki sat enthroned in state beneath the raised canopy.

Watching him, Shuurei thought he looked like a picture perfect Emperor; like an illustration from a picture scroll. She had to glance away, the image resting uneasily with her. See me, Ryuuki had begged, but sometimes she felt as if her gaze was drowning in all the rest, who only saw the Emperor.

As she looked away her gaze fell upon Seiran, who was also watching Ryuuki, and Shuurei stared at the expression she had surprised on his face. Concern and affection, as if all he wanted to do was draw Ryuuki in under the sheltering protection of his arm, as he had done for her a thousand times whenever she was hurting. "You see him too," she whispered.

Seiran started and turned back towards her, the moment of openness vanishing. But she knew what she had seen. "My Lady?"

"Seiran," Shuurei said slowly, reaching out to slip her hand into Seiran's. "You care about him too, don't you?" She saw him hesitate, restricted by the protocol of respectful distance a guard should maintain before his Imperial master; but it was easy, in this moment, to read the truth of it in his eyes. "You're worried about him too."

Seiran let out a small sigh, and his fingers entwined gently with hers. "If he could," Seiran said quietly, "he would be rushing all over the barge, getting in the oarsmen's way, hanging over the side to see the water pass by." His mouth quirked up in a small smile. "And probably falling in."

His gaze moved back towards to Ryuuki and the tenderness there was more than a retainer should feel; it was more the way he looked at her, and at father. She squeezed his hand and smiled when he glanced down at her in surprise, feeling the same warm upwelling of heightened strength she felt whenever she gained an ally. "Maybe we can do something about that," she said, and the wondering, delighted smile that Seiran gave her met and matched hers perfectly.

 

The court was settling in for the night, bright coloured pavilions springing up along the canal bank like huge, unnatural flowers; there was little of that colour to be seen in the deepening darkness from where Shuurei waited patiently, a small distance away from the crowd.

She heard a rustling from among the thick rushes that sheltered this curve of the canal's bank and she turned, smiling.

"Seiran…" she heard Ryuuuki's voice, slipped from the formal, dignified cadences of the Emperor to little boy whine. "Where are we going?"

"Be patient your Majesty."

"But…" The two of them came rustling out of the rushes and Ryuuki saw her: his eyes widened comically. "Shuurei!"

"Your majesty," Shuurei greeted him, smiling, with a formal bow turned welcome. "Will you do us the honour of joining us on a river trip?" She gestured towards the small tow boat Seiran had requisitioned from one of the supply barges.

Ryuuki's face lit up and he shivered all over, like a puppy in the paroxysms of joy. "Both of you?"

 

As they pushed away from the bank towards the middle of the canal they scared up a water bird from among the reeds and Ryuuki nearly capsized the boat as he lunged across to see. Only Shuurei's quick grab for the scruff of his robe kept him from going overboard, and only Seiran's quick grab for the scruff of hers kept her from following him anyway. It was probably inevitable that the ended up in a pile on the bottom of the boat.

It took them a while to detangle themselves and sort themselves back out into their original positions, Ryuuki wilting with remorse all the while – although that quickly changed back into vibrating excitement and he was hanging over the side of the boat again before Seiran even took up the oars. Shuurei took a firm grip on the picnic basket.

Once they were far enough away from the camp that the guards wouldn't see, (and Shuurei had heard Seiran muttering dark things under his breath about laxity and surprise drills) Shuurei took out the darkened lantern. Carefully, wary of accidents, she swivelled the shutters around and turned up the wick, so the light from the oil shone brighter, and then leant forward to hang it from the prow of the boat.

Ryuuki watched her, intently curious, reminding Shuurei irresistibly of a wide eyed kitten. "Why are you doing that?"

"It's an old fisherman's trick, your majesty," Seiran said quietly from behind the oars. "The fish are attracted by the light and swim close to the surface."

"You'll be able to see them this way," Shuurei added, smiling, and watched Ryuuki's eyes widen in excitement.

The slipped quietly down the canal, the soft splash of the oars and calls of night birds the only sounds over Ryuuki's constant stream of murmured excitement. Shuurei was forced to call upon every ounce of her market place knowledge to be able to identify all the fish that swum into view, although she learnt not to identify the source of that knowledge after Ryuuki's first dismayed, heart broken look. It wouldn't be good if fishing were banned by Imperial edict.

 

They had been drifting for a little more than a turn of the watch before Ryuuki, who had been quiet for a little while, finally spoke up in level, more serious tones. "I – we –thank you, Shuurei, Seiran. This… I've never been so close to the water like this before!"

Shurei and Seiran exchanged smiles. Shuurei laughed quietly. "We thought that you would like that chance.'

"Shuurei… Seiran…" Ryuuki stared at them, eyes welling with emotion, and then –

Experience gave Shuurei the moment's warning she needed to slip aside and so Ryuuki's lunge hit Seiran full force; Seiran barely had time to issue a startled squawk before the boat finally fulfilled its repeated threat and they both went over the edge.

There was an enormous splash. As soon as the boat had stopped rocking Shuurei rushed anxiously to the side. "Seiran, Ryuuki? Are you alright."

"We're fine, my lady," Seiran called back, the customary serenity of his voice slightly strained. He was up to his chin in water and directing a slightly exasperated look at an embarrassed looking Ryuuki, who was in similar straits. Their long, pale hair swirled about on the dark surface of the water like some strange plant.

Shuurei couldn't help it: she collapsed against the side of the boat, fits of laughter spilling out from behind her hands despite her best efforts. "That's a little closer than we had in mind, Ryuuki!"

Ryuuki's face looked perfectly white and perfectly miserable above the dark water as he gazed up at her beseechingly. "I'm sorry Shuurei, Sei – ack!" Shuurei lunged forward uselessly, heart in her throat, as Ryuuki suddenly disappeared beneath the surface of the water.

"Ryuuki!" She heard Seiran shout, before the other man disappeared too in a smooth dive. Shuurei watched, tense, anxiously scanning the water for any sign of them.

It felt like an age but couldn't have been more than a minute if she considered it logiacally before they broke the surface again, Ryuuki pinioned to Seiran's chest and coughing pathetically.

She sagged against the side of the boat in relief as she saw Seiran's face, more exasperated than concerned. "Honestly," Seiran was muttering, one arm wrapped firmly around Ryuuki's shoulders. "How on earth did you manage to fall? It's not like this is a river; there's no current and the bed is even here."

"But it's slippery!" Ryuuki protested helplessly. "I slipped and –" he paused, a comical expression crossing his face; part surprise, part horrified dismay. "I've lost my shoe!"

Seiran caught him again firmly before he could lunge back into the water in search of the lost footware. "It's probably disappeared into the mud by now. You don't have to go searching for it."

"Why don't you help Seiran tow the boat into the bank," Shuurei suggested, and watched Ryuuki immediately perk up and forget about all shoe related plans.

When they finally brought the boat to shore, not without a few small, further mishaps, the two men were coated in thick black canal mud. Shuurei bullied them into taking their overrobes off, despite their anxious protests, and wrapped the blankets she had brought to use as picnic rugs around their shoulders. She decided not to mention that the picnic basket itself had also gone overboard.

"Do you want to catch a chill?" She finally asked, exasperated.

Ryuuki stared up at her through the wet, trailing ends of his hair. "But you don't have a blanket, Shuurei!"

"I didn't fall into the canal!" Shuurei grabbed up a loose corner and began vigourously towelling Ryuuki's hair dry.

"If we all sat down together," Seiran suggested quietly, "We can share."

 

Somehow in the process of sorting everyone out, and everyone competing to give up the most of the blanket to the other two, Ryuuki ended up between them, cradled by their bodies. Even as Shuurei watched he gave a little sigh, a contended noise, and his eyes drifted closed. His weight against her arm suddenly increased as he slipped easily into sleep.

Like a baby, she thought softly, wonderingly, gently brushing his hair away from his eyes with her fingertips. It reminded her of the way he would fall asleep so suddenly, between one breath and the next, after he'd weedled his way into her bed… The sudden memory made her blush hotly, suddenly aware of her position. And there was not even a scroll to put between them, as little use as that had been at the time.

Seiran's presence counted as a chaperone though, right? she thought determinedly as she felt her eyes begin to fall close against her will. Just before she slipped into sleep she saw Seiran reach over, and brush his hand down both their cheeks. There was something in his eyes that she had never quite seen there before, though she recognised it from Ryuuki; something moving beneath the familiar, contented serenity. She thought it might be joy.


End file.
